Saunders, Dr. Gary Cordon of the Victory Temple Church in Windsor and Tara Kenchen of the NC Community Development Initiative recently discussed their perspectives on the work of the Hive and what it means to be raised in Bertie on the Black Issues Forum on UNC-TV.

"Places like The Hive for Bertie County, especially western Bertie County where there's no recreation, there's no extra-curricular activities that are positive, to have a place that you can go to and people that you can lean on and you can trust, other than family members–it is so crucial it is so important. Not only for young people but for the family as a whole," said Saunders.

"Bertie County has the problem many rural counties have...poverty is a real problem. You lose hope when you're in rural poverty. We see The Hive as an opportunity to catalyze that hope but also catalyze other services in the community. And we think it's going to be the beginning of what will start to transform Bertie County and hopefully transform other counties in the area," said Kenchen.